Wednesday, December 23, 2009

My friend, Nik, decided to purchase an interesting looking used Japanese Ibanez RG the other day at Guitar Center for only $99. At that price it would be easy to part this thing out on eBay and make a small profit.

The guitar was routed at some point for a Floyd Rose tremolo, which happens to be a real Floyd... and my best guess is that's an older model. The inertia block is steel and pretty heavy and it has seen quite a bit of wear and tear. Overall, though, it is in perfectly functioning condition and has a great feel. The only caveat is the lack of a locking nut on the neck. The tuners are non-locking, as well, so keeping it in tune without some modification will be rather difficult unless tremolo use is confined to mild, vintage Strat style warblings. :)

Since this is a Japanese model, the neck and body are of excellent quality and the action and feel of the neck are superb. The previous owner had an insane string gauge on this guitar (the G string was wound!). After a good cleaning, I popped on some .009 gauge strings and now the guitar feels much more like a shredder.

Opening up the guitar to peak at the electronics I can't tell what the pickups are. They're apparently some generic cheapos and the potentiometers are of the tiny variety typically used on guitars and basses with electronic cavities that have limited space.This is real beater due to the strange pattern painted on the body and the lack of locking nut for the Floyd. The pickups and electronic components will need replacing, for sure. However, if the were guitar fitted with a self-lubricating nut, locking Gotoh tuners and new pickups it could possibly be a keeper. We'll see what Nik decides to do.

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About the Author

I love the guitar and guitar related music. I also love working on my own instruments; whether it's doing a simple setup, installing new pickups or cutting a new nut.
This blog is about my experiences with gear and the talented musicians and builders I come into contact with during the process.
Thanks for reading!